practice at the gym

I was reminded about this today when I stopped at the gym and took a few moments to just observe the girls during their strength portion of their work out. Just watching the seemingly endless repetitions is exhausting.

33/365 Chocolate Dreams

This week’s challenge over at the 365 project is food and beverages. At knitting tonight there was a basket of Theo chocolate bars. It took quite a lot of self discipline on my part to avoid indulging myself. However I suspect nibbling on my the household chocolate stash when I got home was a bit counter productive.

Today is also the silent poetry reading day for bloggers. I had thought about writing my own poem and while I am perfectly capable of doing so, I found that I am lacking the necessary inspiration at the moment. So once again, I’ll share one of my Pop Newkirk’s poems.

Soul Flight

Seek some pleasant, seaside nook
Where sunshine warms and waves are still,
There, resting with a worthwhile book,
Forget the woes of life which kill.

Upon your ears the soothing rote
Of lapping wavelets on the shore,
Fall into time with lines you quote
From some great poet, gone before.

So pause, with life’s descending day
And, conscience clear from willful wrong,
Observe the lights and shadows play
To form the pattern for a song.

Out in the sun-blessed afternoon,
Mind entranced by the wild bird’s tune,
Breathing deep of the rich perfume
Of red June roses, ripe with bloom.

The soul leaps up in ecstasy
To ride the dreams of Destiny
And, soaring far above the grime,
Finds height and reach in space and time.

I N Newkirk, II

I am so not ready this year. I am working on projects, but almost none of them are holiday related. I find my knitted gift giving has become more random through the years. If I finish a project and it is the perfect fit for someone else, it gets gifted. Simple. Giving shouldn’t just be restricted to the holiday season.

It kind of is a back fired feeling though, because suddenly it is that time of year again and I have this awful feeling that that the expectations of the world around me are as incongruent as the leaves that are fighting for space with the Christmas lights on the trees downtown. And I ponder about how and when my perspective on giving changed.

I know that my cancer diagnosis 9 years ago had much to do with some of the changes, that suddenly the tangible effect of an acutal present took second fiddle to the importance of spending actual time with the people that I care about. This year there were several events that have emphasized that importance. Friends have lost parents. Friends have lost friends. And friends have lost children in unexpected ways. All of which have underscored to me the importance of treasuring the moments that are.

Those moments are what matter to me. Not the commercialism of the holidays. For those moments and memories are part of the fabric of our being and are in themselves a unique gift.

The simple quiet solitude of the moon at night. It softly watches over me, guarding my dreams.

It listens to my hopes and fears, holding them in confidence while I sleep.

eta: forgot a line when i was typing this out. whoops! much better now!